Some 14 months after the publication of the first volume (Non-Passerines), I am pleased to announce that the third and final volume of All the World’s Birds 2019 : A Companion Guide – SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA has been published as a Kindle eBook.

This means birders now have one-click access to up to date information for all of the region’s 4018 bird species from their Kindle reading device – whether that be a Kindle, a tablet or a smart phone.

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AND … during the 2019 Easter Holiday (April 19 to 23) you can purchase ALL THREE of these volumes for less than $US 2 (before tax), or less than £UK 2 – click here for more details.

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The SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA World Region covers the landmass between the Mexico/USA border and Tierra del Fuego. It includes the Galápagos Islands and Falkland Islands (Malvinas), Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire and Trinidad, as well as smaller islands within a short distance from the mainland coastline.

The bird species included are landbirds that are resident or otherwise regularly present within the region and in their native state. A separate section within each of the three volumes covers Introductions, plus species that have not been recorded for a while, or for which there is not enough information to be sure of their status within the region. Seabirds that breed within the SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA region are also included within Volume 1.

Use these three eBooks to explore and to improve your knowledge of SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA birds from the comfort of your home. Take your reading device with you when you go away on birding trips, and connect it to the internet for quick access to information about each species whenever you need it.

The three volumes now available from Amazon are as follows:

All the World’s Birds 2019: A Companion Guide – SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA:
Volume 1: NON-PASSERINES
RHEAS to AFRICAN & NEW WORLD PARROTS 1607 species in 68 families

[For a discussion about Suboscine vs. Oscine Passerines, see my blog post of October 13 2018:5 NEW ALL THE WORLD’S BIRDS TITLES]

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ WORLD REGION series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWBWR. Or, click here to see all ATWBWR titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWBWR titles onAmazon UK.

For more details about the WORLD REGION … series of ATWB Companion Guides, click here.

To find links to all available ATWB titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, click here.

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Some details …

Each of the ATWB 2019 Companion Guides has a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

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You probably know that our most ancient extant bird families are the Ratites, which include Ostriches, Rheas, Kiwis, Cassowaries and Emu. But which bird families are the most recently evolved?

In January 2018 the International Ornithological Congress (IOC) released version 8.1 of its world bird list, which is hosted on the IOC’s World Bird Names website. Version 8.1 included the results of a detailed study of all the bird families that are newer than Family: Fringillidae – Finches, Euphonias (Barker et al. 2013, 2015; NACC 2017-B-6). These most recently evolved families cover all the bird species that appear in Part Twelve of the IOC bird list in the All the World’s Birds series of Companion Guides.

Before v8.1 was released, there were 862 recognized extant bird species in Part 12 of the IOC bird list ascribed to 7 families, with a further 6 species temporarily lodged in a ‘Family Uncertain’ group with the Latin name Incertae Sedis 2. The order and species populations of these families were:

Family: Parulidae – New World Warblers 119

Family: Incertae Sedis 2 – Family Uncertain 6

Family: Icteridae – Oropendolas, Orioles and Blackbirds 108

Family: Coerebidae – Bananaquit 1

Family: Emberizidae – Buntings, New World Sparrows and allies 181

Family: Thraupidae – Tanagers and allies 394

Family: Calcariidae – Longspurs, Snow Buntings 6

Family: Cardinalidae – Cardinals, Grosbeaks and allies 53

The Barker et al. study, which applied the latest techniques for assessing relationships between bird species based on genetic analysis, discovered that the most recently evolved bird family was not the Cardinalidae but the Thraupidae. The study also revealed the existence of ten new families, while Bananaquit was ascribed to the Thraupidae family. The six species from Incertae Sedis 2 were ascribed to families, and many others were moved to a new or different family. v8.2 of the IOC bird list (published in June 2018) added one extra species when White-collared Seedeater was split into two species: Cinnamon-rumped Seedeater and Morelet’s Seedeater. Two families were also given modified English names.

So at the start of 2019 there were 869 extant bird species in Part 12 of the IOC bird list, grouped into 16 families ordered as follows:

Family: Calcariidae – Longspurs, Snow Buntings 6

Family: Rhodinocichlidae – Thrush-tanager 1

Family: Emberizidae – Buntings 44

Family: Passerellidae – New World Sparrows 135

Family: Calyptophilidae – Chat-tanagers 2

Family: Phaenicophilidae – Hispaniolan Tanagers 4

Family: Nesospingidae – Puerto Rican Tanager 1

Family: Spindalidae – Spindalises 4

Family: Zeledoniidae – Wrenthrush 1

Family: Teretistridae – Cuban Warblers 2

Family: Icteriidae – Yellow-breasted Chat 1

Family: Icteridae – Oropendolas, Orioles and Blackbirds 108

Family: Parulidae – New World Warblers 119

Family: Mitrospingidae – Mitrospingid Tanagers 4

Family: Cardinalidae – Cardinals, Grosbeaks and (Tanager) Allies 53

Family: Thraupidae – Tanagers and Allies 384

The full details of these families and species, and how they are distributed throughout the world, are in a newly published ATWB title:

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ PART-BY-PART series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWBPP. Or, click here to see all ATWBPP titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWBPP titles onAmazon UK.

For more details about the PART-BY-PART … series of ATWB Companion Guides, click here.

To find links to all available ATWB titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, click here.

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Some details …

Each of the ATWB 2019 Companion Guides has a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

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KEEP IN TOUCH

Sign up to this blog to be informed about releases of new titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, and of developments in the IOC bird list.

The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The list is updated twice a year, in January and July.

The details of the changes in the v9.1 release can be found by clicking on the Updates tab on the IOC website. Here is a summary of the major amendments:

New to science

Campylopterus Hummingbirds +1 species Dry-forest Sabrewing

Dicrurus Drongos +1 species Western Square-tailed Drongo

Splits

Ninox Owls (Boobooks) +4 species

Urochroa Hummingbirds (Hillstars) +1 species

Automolus Ovenbirds (Foliage-gleaners) +1 species

Myrmothera and Grallaricula Antpittas +2

Sericornis Australasian Warblers (Scrubwrens) +1

Laniarius Bushsrikes (Boubous) +1

Vireo Vireos +1

Dicrurus Drongos +3

Calandrella Larks +1

Phylloscopus Warblers +1

Zosterops White-eyes +11

Ramphocaenus Gnatcatchers (Gnatwrens) +1

Brachypteryx Shortwings +3

Lumps

Nothura Nothuras -1 [Chaco Nothura]

Lanius Shrikes -1 [Steppe Grey Shrike]

Calandrella Larks -1 [Erlanger’s Lark]

Zosterops White-eyes -2 [Mountain White-eye, Enganno White-eye]

Ramphocelus Tanagers -1 [Cherrie’s Tanager]

Revision and resequencing of families

The Ovenbirds family Furnariidae has been revised and resequenced.

Part of the Australasian Warblers family Acanthizidae has been revised and resequenced.

The Laughingthrushes and Allies family Leiothrichidae has been revised and resequenced.

The Zosterops genus in Family: Zosteropidae – White-eyes has been revised and resequenced. As a result of this revision there are 9 net new species in the genus, bringing the total to 96.

In the IOC bird list there are now 10738 extant species (net +27) ascribed to 244 families.

All these changes will be reflected in the 2020 editions of the ATWB Companion Guides. These editions will be released towards the end of August 2019, after publication of the next version (v9.2) of the IOC bird list.

Each of the ATWB 2019 Companion Guides has a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

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The world region AUSTRALASIA (AUS) is bounded in the north-west by a notional line that separates the ASIA world region (to the west) from the AUS world region (to the east). The line is named after the 19th century naturalist Alfred Wallace, who was the first to observe that west of this line reside Asian animal species, while to the east there is a mixture of Asian and Australasian species. The line is shown in solid red on the left (west) side and top (north) of the map you can see by clicking here.

Starting in the lower left (south-west) corner of the map, the Wallace Line separates the south central Indonesia islands of Bali (Asia) from Lombok (Australasia); heads northwards to divide the Java Sea (Asia) from the Flores Sea (Australasia); and runs through the Makassar Strait between the island of Borneo (Asia) and the north central Indonesia island Sulawesi (Australasia). The northern boundary of the AUS world region then curves north-eastwards through the Celebes Sea, passing south of the southernmost tip of Mindanao in the country of the Philippines (which is in the ASIA world region), and running north of the Talaud Islands (in AUS), which are in the north-east corner of north central Indonesia.

WALLACEA is the name given to the group of islands that form a biogeographical subregion in north-west AUS to the east of the Wallace Line. On the map it is the area within the solid red line. The subregion is separated from the Asian and Australasian continental shelves by deep-water straits, and is home to a diverse collection of birds in 80 families. Apart from two sections of the island of Timor (mostly the eastern part), which make up the country of Timor-Leste (located in the south central part of the region), the whole of Wallacea lies within the country of Indonesia.

712 of the bird species recognized in The IOC World Bird List (see below) are regularly present in the Wallacea region, including 64 species of Pigeons, Doves (Family: Columbidae) and 28 species of Honeyeaters (Family: Meliphagidae). Of these, no fewer than 41 Columbidae species and 26 Meliphagidae species can be found regularly in their native state only in Indonesia or Timor-Leste, many on just a single island!

I am also pleased to announce that an additional 3 titles in the 2019 series of ATWB Interactive Checklists are now complete and available to be downloaded to Kindle reading devices. These cover three important and popular birding destinations within the Wallacea region:

If you are planning a birding trip to Wallacea, or are thinking of visiting the region for its wealth of country and regional endemics, then the above five recently published ATWB titles are a must read before you go, and a handy resource to take with you on your Kindle, tablet or smartphone.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ FOCUS ON … series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWBFO. Or, click here to see all ATWBFO titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWBIC titles onAmazon UK.

For more details about the FOCUS ON … series of ATWB Companion Guides, click here.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of INTERACTIVE CHECKLISTS, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWBIC. Or, click here to see all ATWBIC titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWBIC titles onAmazon UK.

For more details about the INTERACTIVE CHECKLISTS series of ATWB Companion Guides, click here.

To find links to all available ATWB titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, click here.

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Some details …

Each of the ATWB 2019 Companion Guides has a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

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Towards the end of October this year, the conversion program supplied by Amazon that is used in the publishing process for Kindle eBooks was updated. Following that change, the bird lists in the eBooks that I develop in Microsoft Word were not being presented correctly in tablet and phone Kindle reading apps. The conversion program introduced an indentation at the start of each paragraph in the lists. This didn’t happen on Kindle reading devices.

What this meant for the All the World’s Birds series of eBooks was that lists of bird species were no longer neatly left-aligned on tablets and phones. Also, because of the unwanted indentation, some lines were now too long and wrapped to the following line, even on the smallest font setting. The result on these reading devices was a mess.

Any ATWB title that was published prior to the end of October 2018 was unaffected. So customers are still able to purchase these titles with the confidence that they will be formatted acceptably on any reading device (Kindle/tablet/phone).

Unfortunately, before I spotted what was happening I updated the content of three existing titles and published one new one. The affected titles were:

All the World’s Birds 2019 : A Companion Guide – PART-BY-PART
PART THREE: SANDGROUSE to OWLS
PART FOUR: FROGMOUTHS to HORNBILLS
PART FIVE: JACAMARS to OLD WORLD PARROTS

I highlighted the problem to Amazon and they appear to be experimenting with a new conversion program that more faithfully reproduces the intended layout. I managed to pick up and use this new program for two of the above titles: PART THREE and PART FOUR, which are now neatly laid out for use on all reading devices. However, the new conversion program is still being worked on – it comes and goes! So I still haven’t been able to re-publish the remaining two affected titles. With luck this will all be sorted out soon and normal service can resume.

Meanwhile, I have annotated the Description text for the remaining two corrupted titles, warning customers not to purchase them unless they intend to use them only on Kindle readers, and otherwise recommending that they postpone their purchase until after the conversion program problem has been resolved.

I first raised this problem with Amazon at the start of November, but five weeks later I am still in the situation where:

I cannot publish any new titles (I have five eBooks ready that I wanted to publish in December)

I cannot update the content of any existing titles

I have two remaining published titles that do not display correctly on tablets and phones

In the lead up to Christmas this situation has severely affected the extent of online marketing I can do. It has also somewhat dampened my enthusiasm for developing new titles.

Nevertheless, I shall follow through on my promise to make four titles available free-of-charge for a limited period. The following four eBooks – one from each ATWB series – will be free to download from Amazon from Sunday December 16 to Thursday December 20 USA Pacific time:

All the World’s Birds 2019 : A Companion Guide – PART-BY-PART
PART THREE: SANDGROUSE to OWLS

All the World’s Birds 2019 : A Companion Guide – WORLD REGIONS
SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA VOLUME 1: NON-PASSERINES:
RHEAS to AFRICAN & NEW WORLD PARROTS

All the World’s Birds 2019 : A Companion Guide – FOCUS ON
INDIAN SUBCONTINENT VOLUME 2: PASSERINES: BROADBILLS to BUNTINGS

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWB. Or, click here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon UK.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

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This month (October 2019) five new titles have been published in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides, bringing the total number that are complete and available for download to 21.

The PART-BY-PART series has moved into Passerines (“perching birds”). Parts 1 to 5 (first published last year) deal with all extant Non-Passerine bird species in the IOC bird list. Newly available titles are:

PART SIX: NEW ZEALAND WRENS to TYRANT FLYCATCHERS, CALYPTURA 1190 species

PART SEVEN: COTINGAS to WHISTLERS AND ALLIES 847 species

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ Part-by-Part series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWBPP. Or, click here to see all ATWBPP titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWBPP titles onAmazon UK.

The following three eBooks in the WORLD REGION series are also now available:

Most extant Passerine bird species have a highly developed vocal chord in an organ called the syrinx – although some (such as crows) do not make full use of it. These species are classified within a suborder of Passerines called Passeri or Oscines (songbirds). The most primitive extant Passerine species do not have such a developed syrinx. All but two are classified into suborder Tyranni or Suboscines, with the New Zealand endemics Rifleman and New Zealand Rockwren (Family: New Zealand Wrens) being the only surviving species of the ancient Passerine suborder Acanthisitti.

Many of the extant Suboscine bird species are resident or otherwise regularly present in South America/Middle America (SA/MA). The third title in the list above covers all those 1267 species (including all SA/MA Ovenbirds, Antbirds, Tyrant Flycatchers, Cotingas, Manakins, Tityras and Becards), giving indications of distribution for many of them.

Volume 1 of the South America/Middle America World Region Companion Guide (first published in February this year) covers 1607 Non-Passerines. A third volume (to be released next year) will cover the SA/MA Oscine Passerines.

As you will have noted above, the birds of the Australasia world region have also been covered in two new titles. These volumes deal with all the regularly occurring bird species of Wallacea, New Guinea and nearby islands, Australia, New Zealand, and the oceanic islands and seas from the Solomons to Macquarie Island, listing local, country and regional endemics and providing distribution indications for most species. A “must have” for anyone planning to go birding within the region.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ World Region series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWBWR. Or, click here to see all ATWBWR titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWBWR titles onAmazon UK.

*** NEXT PLANNED FREE PROMOTION ***

Advance notice:

One title from each of the four series of ATWB Companion Guides will be offered free-to-download in the run up to Christmas 2018 (i.e. one title from each of the PART-BY-PART, WORLD REGIONS, FOCUS ON … and INTERACTIVE CHECKLISTS series). More details towards the end of November. [Note: none of the five newest titles listed above will be included in this promotion.]

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Some details …

Each ATWB Companion Guide deals with the birds to be found in a particular PART of the IOC bird list; a WORLD REGION or sub-region; or an area of the world popular with birders (e.g. North-east India). All have a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where in each region each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWB. Or, click here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon UK.

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Sign up to this blog to be informed about releases of new titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, and of developments in the IOC bird list.

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One of the major challenges facing birders when visiting an unfamiliar part of the world is working out which species they have a chance of connecting with during their visit. Traditional regional field guides, of course, are indispensable, but they have a number of shortcomings:

they are published and updated infrequently, meaning they cannot provide the latest information about species, regional distribution etc

they are generally inclusive, meaning they describe every bird species that has been recorded in the region, leaving the reader to sift through the vagrants, casuals and irruptive species that visiting birders are a lot less likely to encounter

To save birdwatchers the trouble of trawling through online information to supplement the details in their regional field guides, the All the World’s Birds (ATWB) Companion Guides series of Interactive Checklists is here to help. Over time, this series of eBooks will provide a library of up to date listings for areas of the world that are popular with birders.

Each eBook in the series will be updated annually to reflect the latest internationally accepted status of bird species as defined by the International Ornothological Congress (IOC). The eBooks will be priced low and will be formatted for all Kindle reading devices (tablets, smartphones, computers). Birders can download the free Kindle reading app to whichever device they will be taking with them.

Within each eBook, birders will find the following sections:

CHECKLIST – a list of all birds that are recognized as species in the IOC bird list and which are regularly present for at least a part of each year

QUICK REFERENCE – follow the links to find birds based on their common English names

For more details about the Interactive Checklists series of ATWB Companion Guides, click here.

I am pleased to announce that 4 titles in the 2019 series of ATWB Interactive Checklists are now complete and available to be downloaded to Kindle reading devices.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Interactive Checklists, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWBIC. Or, click here to see all ATWBIC titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWBIC titles onAmazon UK. Or you can clickhereto see all ATWBIC titles in Amazon’s India bookstore.

The following INTERACTIVE CHECKLISTS are now available:

All the World’s Birds 2019: Interactive Checklist SRI LANKA

All the World’s Birds 2019: Interactive Checklist SOUTH-WEST INDIA

All the World’s Birds 2019: Interactive Checklist NORTH CENTRAL INDIA

All the World’s Birds 2019: Interactive Checklist NORTH-EAST INDIA

*** FREE PROMOTION ***

Advance notice:

To mark the launch of the new series of ATWB Interactive Checklists, the SRI LANKA and NORTH CENTRAL INDIA titles will be offered free of charge for five days, commencing Friday 21st September (USA Pacific time). Here are your links:

To find links to all these Kindle eBooks on Amazon, and to see an up to date listing of all titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, click here.

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Some details …

Each of the currently available 2019 Companion Guides deals has a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

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I am pleased to announce that 7 titles in the 2019 editions of the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides are now complete and available to be downloaded to Kindle reading devices.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWB. Or, click here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon UK.

All the World’s Birds 2019: A Companion Guide Focus on NORTH-WEST SOUTH AMERICAVOLUME 1: NON-PASSERINES

*** FREE PROMOTION ***

Advance notice:

To coincide with the 27th IOCongress taking place in Vancouver next week (http://www.iocongress2018.com), the OCEANS, SOUTH-EAST ASIA and NORTH-WEST SOUTH AMERICA eBooks will be FREE to download from Saturday 18th August to Wednesday 22nd August (USA Pacific time). Here are your links:

PART ONE to PART FIVE cover the world’s 4297 Non-Passerine species. A new volume, PART SIX, covers 1190 Passerine species from New Zealand Wrens to Tyrant Flycatchers, Calyptura.

To find links to all these Kindle eBooks on Amazon, and to see an up to date listing of all titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, click here.

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Some details …

Each of the currently available 2019 Companion Guides deals with the birds to be found in a particular WORLD REGION or sub-region, and has a number of important features, including:

– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species

– An indication of where in the region each bird family and species can be found in its native state

– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2019’ series of Companion Guides is Version 8.2, published June 27 2018.

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For the first time the number of non-extinct species in the list topped 10700, with the total now standing at 10711 – 4297 Non-Passerines and 6414 Passerines.

The details of the changes in the v8.2 release can be found by clicking on the Updates tab on the World Bird Names website. There is a summary of the major amendments below, but first let’s consider some immediate implications …

If you’ve ever seen a black-and-white Magpie in Hong Kong, or Seoul, or at the Great Wall of China, then you can add Oriental MagpiePica serica to your life list. If you’ve seen one in north-west Africa, then that’s another ‘armchair tick’: Maghreb MagpiePica mauritanica. This is because the Eurasian MagpiePica pica complex has been redefined, creating and additional four species.

On the negative front, I’m afraid that if your only records of Southern Grey Shrike Lanius meridionalis are from the Canary Islands, or Egypt, or the Middle East, or India, you’ll have to strike this species off your list, as it has now been decided that these birds are all subspecies of Great Grey Shrike. The only place where Lanius meridionalis is resident is southern France and the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar), with some birds wintering in north-west Africa. Consequently, the species has been renamed Iberian Grey Shrike.

There have been some more esoteric implications of the revisions in 8.2. For example, the warblers in south-west Cambodia and extreme south-east Thailand that were previously thought to be subspecies of Kloss’s Leaf Warbler have been reclassified as a subspecies of Davison’s Leaf Warbler. This reassignment is part of a wholesale redefinition and resequencing of the family Phylloscopidae – Leaf Warblers and Allies, which merges all the members of the former Seicercus genus into the single Phylloscopidae genus Phylloscopus.

The changes made to the IOC bird list during 2018 have had a major impact on one of the All the World’s Birds (ATWB) titles in particular: Focus on INDIAN SUBCONTINENT VOLUME 2: PASSERINES. To see these updates click here. For details of how the 8.1 and 8.2 IOC bird list changes have affected bird species that are regularly present in the Western Palearctic region, click here.

2019 editions of all currently available ATWB eBooks will be published in August 2018. Another blog post will make the announcement when they are ready to download.

So, as promised earlier, here is a summary of the 8.2 changes.

New to science

Megascops Screech Owls +1 species Santa Marta Screech Owl

Machaeropterus Manakins + 1 species Painted Manakin

Myzomela Honeyeaters +1 species Rote Myzomela

Splits

Thamnistes Antshrikes +1 species

Psophodes Whipbirds +1 species

Edolisoma Cicadabirds +1 species

Rhipidura Fantails +1

Pica Magpies +4

Lophorina Birds-of-paradise +2

Cyornis Jungle Flycatchers +1

Sporophila Seedeaters +1

Lumps

Megascops Screech Owls -2 [Napo Screech Owl, Colombian Screech Owl]

Cranioleuca Ovenbirds -1 [Baron’s Spinetail]

Re-defintion and re-sequencing of families

All species that were formerly members of families Tephrodornithidae – Woodshrikes and Allies and Prionopidae – Helmetshrikes have been transferred to the extended family Vangidae – Vangas and Allies.

The Cuckooshrikes family Campephagidae has been re-defined with the addition of new genera, and has been re-sequenced.

Family Phylloscopidae – Leaf Warblers and Allies has been redefined and resequenced.

Family Locustellidae – Grassbirds and Allies has been redefined and requenced.

In the IOC bird list there are now 10711 extant species (net +12) assigned to 244 families (-2). All 8.1 and 8.2 updates will be reflected in the 2019 editions of the ATWB Companion Guides.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series, search in theBookssection of your local Amazon site forATWB. Or, click here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon US; or here to see all ATWB titles onAmazon UK.

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I am pleased to announce that all 10 titles in the 2018 editions of the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides are now complete and available to be downloaded to Kindle reading devices.

To see all the currently available titles in the ‘All the World’s Birds’ series, search in the Books section of your local Amazon site for ATWB. Or, click here to see all ATWB titles on Amazon US; or here to see all ATWB titles on Amazon UK.

In addition to the five titles announced in December 2017 – ALL THE WORLD’S NON-PASSERINES – the following eBooks are now available:

WORLD REGION guides:
All the World’s Birds 2018: A Companion Guide OCEANS
All the World’s Birds 2018: A Companion Guide WESTERN PALEARCTIC
All the World’s Birds 2018: A Companion Guide SOUTH AMERICA/MIDDLE AMERICA
VOLUME 1: NON-PASSERINES

FOCUS ON guides:
All the World’s Birds 2018: A Companion Guide Focus on INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
VOLUME 1: NON-PASSERINES
All the World’s Birds 2018: A Companion Guide Focus on INDIAN SUBCONTINENT
VOLUME 2: PASSERINES

Each guide deals with the birds to be found in a particular WORLD REGION or sub-region, and has a number of important features, including:
– A complete taxonomic listing of bird species
– An indication of where in the region each bird family and species can be found in its native state
– Spotlighted species that have a restricted regional or worldwide range

However, perhaps the key feature of all eBooks in the Companion Guide series is the way you can quickly and simply access relevant, up to date online information about every featured bird species. If your reading device is connected to the internet, a single click will take you to a search results page for a species, from where you can continue to search for additional information to whatever level of detail you desire.

The ‘All the World’s Birds’ series of Companion Guides derives its taxonomy, English names and scientific names from The IOC World Bird List, an open access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC). The IOC bird list is hosted on a dedicated World Bird Names website, which provides access to the list in various different formats. The version of the IOC bird list used in the ‘All the World’s Birds 2018’ series of Companion Guides is Version 7.3, published July 31 2017.

To find links to these Kindle eBooks on Amazon, and to see an up to date listing of all titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, click here.

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Sign up to this blog to be informed about releases of new titles in the All the World’s Birds Companion Guide series, and of developments in the IOC bird list.